


Haumaru

by beaches_at_treasure_island



Series: In which Maori is slaughtered [2]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Drowning, Hurt/Comfort, I Will Go Down With This Ship, Implied Relationships, M/M, Maori, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Pre-Slash, Shipwrecks, Triggers, butchered languages, quilson, slade speaks maori, sladiver - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-13
Updated: 2015-03-13
Packaged: 2018-03-17 15:44:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 619
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3535013
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/beaches_at_treasure_island/pseuds/beaches_at_treasure_island
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Oliver finds out the hard way that he still carries scars from the night of the shipwreck, and not the physical kind either. Slade helps calm him down.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Haumaru

It was a clear, balmy day on Lian Yu when Slade decided to show Oliver the waterfall. Oliver had been training with Slade for three or four weeks by now, using a nearby stream to splash off most of the dirt and grime the island coated him in. Oliver was glad to have a better way to get clean, given that he hadn’t been really clean since he boarded his father’s yacht.

Slade must have been in a good mood that day since he was humming absently as they walked through the forest. As the duo drew closer to the falls, Oliver noted the sound of water splashing down into a pond below. The sound was soothing to his ears and he felt himself fully relax for the first time since arriving on Lian Yu.

Finally, Slade and Oliver broke into the small clearing around the pond. Slade eagerly began stripping, leaving Oliver to blush and glance away, before swiftly diving into the water. Oliver was more hesitant. Slowly, he pulled off his clothes, carefully folding each piece over a tree branch as though they were one of his designer suits back in Starling City.

“What’s taking so long, Queen?” Slade shouted from beside the waterfall. He began swimming towards Oliver. “Are you coming in or what?”

“In a minute,” Oliver replied, meticulously laying his pants over the branch in a way that would dissuade further wrinkling.

Suddenly, still clad in his boxers, Oliver was lifted and tossed into the pond by his Australian cohort. As the water hit him, Oliver knew his fears were not unfounded. He screamed loudly, underwater fortunately as he did not want to attract the island’s mercenaries. The panic Oliver felt wiped all knowledge of swimming from his mind. He couldn’t tell up from down and though his head momentarily broke the surface of the pond, granting him a small gasp of air, he sunk back into the depths, flailing in terror.

Then someone had grabbed him, tugging their arms up under his and around his torso, and Oliver remembered. Slade. He calmed slightly, ceasing his flailing efforts for air, trusting the other man.

They broke the surface together, Oliver gasping in deep, quick bursts of fresh air.

“ _Haumaru. He haumaru koe_ ,” Slade muttered to himself in his language. “ _Ka koe pai_.”

“Huh?” Oliver panted.

“Why didn’t you say you couldn’t swim, _tamaiti_?” Slade asked the younger man as he towed them back to the shoreline.

“I can swim... Or I could. But then there was the shipwreck. You know, the reason I’m on this godforsaken island? As soon as I hit the water, all I could think off was that night. How the water swirled up around me and sucked me down. At the time, all I could focus on was swimming as hard as I could, and... Sara... But I couldn’t even remember how to stay afloat just now,” Oliver explained as he shuddered against Slade.

Slade lay Oliver propped against a rock, sitting with him submerged from his waist down. Slade sat beside the billionaire.

“’S okay to freeze up sometimes, kid. Everyone does it. But I should have realized that you’d have an aversion to water at some level. I’m sorry, _tamaiti_ ,” Slade apologized softly.

“You have nothing to apologize for, Slade. I was fine with the stream. You had no clue, and I really didn’t either by the way, that it would be that bad of a reaction.” Oliver replied.

“Yeah, well I shouldn’t have just tossed you into the pond like that, kid. _Ko ahau te pouri o, tamaiti_ ,” Slade insisted finally, shooting a small but apologetic grin at Oliver. “I’ll be more careful next time.”

“ **Next** time?”

**Author's Note:**

> Maori to English Translations:  
> Haumaru – safe/safety  
> He haumaru koe – you are safe  
> Ka koe pai – you will be fine  
> Tamaiti – child/babe  
> Ko ahau te pouri o – I am sorry
> 
> If I fucked up, please let me know so I can fix it . Thanks :)


End file.
